


The Tale-End

by milesheizclub



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Coming of Age, Disney World & Disneyland, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26794039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milesheizclub/pseuds/milesheizclub
Summary: It's Charlie's last two days as Prince Phillip in Disneyland and his dreams haven't come true yet.For Chalex ReverseBang 2020 - based on ricoka's awesome fanart. <3
Relationships: Charlie St. George/Alex Standall, Charlie St. George/Diego Torres/Sheri Holland
Comments: 11
Kudos: 31
Collections: Chalex Reverse Bang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ricoka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ricoka/gifts).



> This is based on @ricoka's amazing fanart found here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/ricoka/630967615868829696
> 
> Thank you to @hppylilthght for being such a great and supportive beta :(((
> 
> I hope you guys like this!

Two years ago, if the cobblestone streets had matted grey, and if the paint on all the architecture had chipped and flaked off, and if the perfumes that blew out from the smellitizers in front of Candy Palace had turned stale and sour, Charlie would not have had a care at all. There wasn’t a thing in the world that could’ve ruined the magic for him, which was still so alive back then, back when he first carried his signature sword and shield, and Charlie’s blue eyes twinkled and shined a little brighter. The Happiest Place on Earth seemed like the perfect place for the man who lived to smile.

It was early enough in the day, just the time Charlie usually liked coming into work, the sky was turning a shade or two brighter with just enough of its regular powder blue hue to indicate that he’d be meeting the sun once again in about an hour, more or less. Harbor Point seemed much less daunting in the dark of the morning, and he found more calm in being able to avoid seeing the throngs of people lining up at the gates before his day of work had to start. Charlie could’ve probably taken it easier on himself the past week. He would, after all, never be coming back to don his cape and armor after the next day, so there was no real point in being that punctual, and yet, breaking the habit seemed… _wrong_.

The idea that Charlie would ever be anything other than daunted and scared about hanging up his costume and leaving was absolutely unprecedented. He never once thought that the magic would ever die down, but there he was, walking through the empty parking, thinking about how at high noon, the light around him felt dimmer than right at that moment. The vast land felt more and more like four walls as the months went on, and suddenly the day was coming when he thought he’d feel a lot more turmoil, and it was… uneventful, to say the least.

It might’ve been the tunnels, Charlie thought to himself as he took his usual ten-minute walk through them to get to the dressing room. If they had been any less well lit, they would’ve been the perfect setting for a Jordan Peele thriller. They did have that in common – where the possibilities lived above ground, and the truth was kept hidden underneath. The park was more of a machine than what he thought was the land where dreams come true. They did come true, for sure, but it happened for the kids who came and left with new stories, new dreams, and new possibilities, much like Charlie himself the first time he ever came to Disneyland back when he was five or six.

Charlie smiled to himself as he so vividly remembered what that first trip was like and how it made him feel. He had been fresh off of watching Sleeping Beauty, so curious about how strong these two people could connect even after just meeting, how brave a prince could be to escape peril and to fight a dragon, and how powerful a kiss was that it could break a magic spell and save a princess. He walked through the park with both his hands clasped firmly in his parents’, and the first character he met was Prince Phillip himself.

He towered over Charlie’s tiny frame, and when Charlie tried to look him in the face with his own mouth agape, the back of his neck started to ache from looking up so high, and the only thing he could really focus on were Phillip’s black velvet sleeves, which looked unbelievably soft to the touch. When the actor noticed this, he squatted in front of him to meet him at eye-level, and Charlie’s breath immediately caught in his throat, fixated on the man’s glistening smile and square jaw, and how the softest hint of crow’s feet perfectly framed his eyes as they glowed in the warm California sun. All that time, Charlie thought he wanted to be the prince, but that was the first time in his short life that he felt like meeting a prince felt just as amazing as being one would have.

But as he got to his table, which was now positively littered with post-it notes and little send-off trinkets, and as he donned his altered costume for the second to the last time, he wondered why the stars never aligned to form the constellation he’d envisioned for so long. He looked around the giant room at the sea of tables and mannequins adorned with luxurious silks and beads, and through the expertly crafted props and accessories, and realized he felt just as weakly about them when everything was worn by actual people as looking at them right now. He wasn’t a little boy anymore, and the fairy tales he, admittedly, desperately chased didn’t lead him to the kind of ending he was looking for. Maybe he was braver. Maybe he was loved. And maybe he did love. But it wasn’t _magic_. Not anymore, at least. Not like it once was.

-

“Stop looking so down in the face, Phillip. People are going to think that you’re actually sad to go.” Charlie looked from where he sat up at Diego’s annoyingly charming smirk, and couldn’t help but smile back after a light roll of the eyes.

“What makes you think I’m not sad?” Charlie countered, indignation in his voice but not his eyes.

“Oh come on, Chuckie,” Diego drawled, making his way around his table and landing directly behind him, bringing his hands up to knead Charlie’s shoulders, “there hasn’t been a single day for the last couple of months that you haven’t expressed in form or another that you were _so ready_ to move on from all this.”

Charlie leaned into the touch, letting his head loll back, effectively meeting Diego’s eyes. “So… last day tomorrow,” Diego said. “How you feeling, fresh grad?”

“Yeah how _are_ you feeling anyway?” The soulful, melodic voice pulled Charlie’s head back up, and standing right in front of the two was Sheri, all ready in her big green ball gown, and a cupcake nestled in her palms with a tiny candle set aflame on top.

“I’m feeling… confused,” he said.

“About what?”

“I have no idea what I’m looking at here,” Charlie said.

“It’s a cupcake,” Sheri deadpanned. “Never seen a cupcake before? It’s chocolate. Ever tasted chocolate before?”

“Why is there a candle?” Charlie asked. “It isn’t my birthday.”

“I don’t know why I ever did anything nice for you, please just shut up and blow the goddamn candle.” She pushed the cupcake further toward him, and Charlie laughed out loud, closing his eyes, pretending to wish for a second before moving in to blow the little flame out.

“Nope,” Diego interjected, his hold on Charlie’s shoulders tightening and pulling him back. “You better actually think about that damn wish, this might be the last time we ever see your ass.”

“First off, you know that’s not true. I live, like, 3 hours away and you two keep me more grounded than absolutely anybody I know. Second, making a wish on a candle seems plain wrong, no one does that,” Charlie said. “And what would I even wish for? I’ve got… you know. A lot.”

Sheri leaned in closer, bringing the cupcake up to Charlie’s face. “What about a dream that you wish would come true?” She offered, and Charlie closed his eyes in exhaustion.

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” he said as he opened his eyes again, this time avoiding each of the two’s gazes. “I’ve already given you guys everything.” Sheri and Diego shared a look, and both their eyes softened at Charlie. Sweet Charlie who went through life with the kind of love that stories are born from, and the kind of naiveté that good characters die from.

“Charlie,” Diego cooed gently, “do you regret dating us?”

He pondered this for a second before shaking his head, his eyebrows gathered in the middle of his forehead. “I don’t think so,” he said. “It was strange, but it just… I really don’t think it’s for me. I loved it; don’t get me wrong. And I loved being with you. But this way I still have you guys, and I can actually keep my life together. I _do_ still have both of you, right?”

“Well yeah,” Sheri said, placing the cupcake down on his table and leaning on it with both her hands. “But that’s kind of a special case, don’t you think? It’s not like you and Scott still talk, but you don’t regret dating him either.”

The corners of Charlie’s mouth perked up a little again, remembering being chased around by that bright green suit. “I mean… who would regret dating Peter Pan? That’s like… every teenage girl’s dream. It just wasn’t that kind of story, you know?”

“And neither were we,” Diego said. He lowered himself beside Charlie, taking the cupcake in his hand and bringing it up closer to Charlie’s face. “But maybe we weren’t short little stories that ended one day. Maybe this is your story, and we’re still in the middle of it. So _maybe_ there is something you still want to wish for after all?”

Charlie looked at the two once again, and then stared at the little fire in front of him, the warmth of it hitting his nose and his lips. He knew they were right, of course. They usually were, that’s what attracted them to him in the first place. He longed for a fairy tale, but he ignored the parts of those stories that were trying, and tiring, and tough to bear, and he wanted so much to skip to end part when he gets the crown, and the kiss, and the ambiguity of the future. Yet there he was, nearing his final day, lonely as could be despite good company.

He thought about the past two years, of all of his experiences, his relationships… and none of them felt like they had happy endings. They did, however, feel like the middle bits of the story that he so longed to skip, but was forced to face.

So as he filled his lungs with a shallow breath, he thought of today and tomorrow, and wished for his long time at Disneyland to come to a… _nice_ end, at least. Just that.


	2. Chapter 2

Charlie knew that he would definitely not miss the nauseous, excited children who didn’t have full control of their digestive tracks as well as their obnoxiously grumpy parents who just wanted to have a nice day at the theme park and ended up having to handle surprise 5-year old bodily fluids, especially the incidents that happened right after heavy, expensive lunches. Charlie expertly dodged all of this, of course, his several hundred days of experience coming in quite handy with situations exactly like this. He graciously pointed the family to the nearest restroom, with two fingers of course, and they thanked him by grumbling under their breaths and grabbing the child’s filthy hand as they walked in the direction they were led to.

He used to enjoy the kids, too, of course. When they would look up at him with the clearest, brightest eyes, and hugged his leg, or brought out their autograph books and smiled so widely when he signed _Prince Phillip_ with overly practiced ease, it would fill him with a pride, and perhaps a hint of purpose. And while he loved paying forward those feelings of beaming wonder he felt when he used to be that child, he also used to convince himself that the kids were the main reason he even auditioned for Disneyland in the first place.

A small crowd gathered around him in Fantasyland where he stationed himself near the castle, a ring of sunglasses, visors, and overheated phones ready to film his interactions with whomever they were with. Over his time at the park, he’d seen more people than he even fathomed existed, coming from a small town in California. In this park, he felt like he saw the whole world and all the kinds of good and bad that exist in it at a 200-dollar price tag.

After he finished with the niceties and pictures with the next family, a rowdy group of three caught his attention: two girls with mouse ears, seeming to have competed for who could get a curlier head of hair (the fair-skinned one won in Charlie’s eyes, in volume and length alone), pushing a boy with a perfectly mussed mop of brown hair right up to him.

“Two years out of college and neither of you will stop acting like children,” the boy said as he neared the prince. “You’d think a cripple’s best friends would treat him with a little less aggression, thank you.”

Charlie prepared for the worst.

“Hi,” the fair girl said as the two held the boy firmly in between them in front of Charlie. “You’re Prince Phillip,” she continued. “I’m Hannah, this is Jessica,” pointing to the other girl. “And _this_ ,” she said as she jogged his arm, “is my great, one of a kind friend, Alex.” Alex had his head down for the duration of the conversation until his name was mentioned, and he tilted his head up minutely, revealing smoky blue eyes through a flutter of eyelashes, and the softest, blushed skin.

“Hi,” Alex said, the break in his voice giving away his embarrassment.

“He’s shy,” Jessica said, nudging Alex. “Take it easy on him, he doesn’t socialize a lot. It’s a miracle if we get him to come with us to anything, which is weird because he doesn’t like when other people talk for him either. And he doesn’t really like loud noises, or loud people, unless they’re Hannah and me, of course, or unless he’s yelling at people. Then he _loves_ being loud.”

“He doesn’t really like bright colors,” Hannah continued, “so being here is a little out of his comfort zone. Which is great because your costume’s kind of grungier than everyone else’s, which is totally Alex’s vibe, or, at least used to be.”

“If it helps you visualize, he used to have a septum piercing.” Jessica rolled her eyes and looked at Alex fondly.

“And bleach blonde hair,” Hannah said. “He was quite the looker. I wish he would go back to it to be honest.”

“Anyway.” Jessica pulled a yellowing booklet and a sharpie out of her satchel. “There are two reasons we’re here, Phillip. Reason number one is that we’re on a mission, you see. This book right here has been with me since I was a _very_ little girl.” She waved the booklet around in front of Charlie’s face and then started leafing through the pages. “And I have all of these autographs from back then. Mickey… Mulan… all your friends. I have yours too!” She held the page up to reveal the little Prince Phillip scribble. “But the thing is, I don’t actually remember meeting all of you. It’s called _childhood amnesia_. So, I brought my friends with me on this mission to re-meet everyone on this book to sign it again.”

“The second reason,” Hannah chimed in, “is that Alex hasn’t had… the _smoothest_ journey, navigating the choppy waters of his love life. A girlfriend here…”

Jessica raised her hand.

“And a boyfriend there,” Hannah continued, “A couple of lovers in and out of college, and still _nothing_. This fine young man is single, I tell you. Single. So Jess and I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to show Alex what a healthy relationship looks like. And since Aurora isn’t around -”

“Which is suspicious, by the way,” Jessica said, eyes squinted.

“We had to settle for just you. And my, how dashing you are.” Hannah slipped into an old-school Louisiana drawl so effortlessly that it caught Charlie off-guard, and it made him break character for a split second.

“Quite the handsome man indeed,” Jessica returned with the same accent. “A lovely example for our boy here, don’t you think, Miss Baker?”

“Oh I definitely _do_ think, Miss Davis.”

“So that’s why we’re here, Phillip.” Jessica pushed Alex an inch forward and rested the book and marker on his shoulder. “A boy and an autograph book. You get to choose which one to help us with first.”

“And choose wisely, Phillip comma Prince,” Hannah said as she crossed her arms.

Charlie was left so unbelievably speechless at the onslaught of information that he had just been bombarded with that he forgot his usual script to even greet them. It was clear to him that these three had found a rhythm within their group, and who were the dominating forces in them. He stood still in front of them for a few clueless seconds, his gaze quickly shifting between the two expectant faces, and Alex’s wide, apologetic eyes, before he took the autograph book wordlessly, and scratched at it the way he usually did, right beside the name that had been signed all those years ago.

Jessica quickly snatched the booklet back, and the two girls gathered behind their mortified friend to assess it.

“The curls on the P’s are skewed. I knew it,” she said, and she looked back at Charlie with accusation in her eyes. “You’re an imposter, Phillip, if that even is your real name.”

“Jess, be reasonable” Hannah said, “It’s been almost twenty years, his signature’s sure to have morphed over time. Twenty years ago I drew little hearts.

Jessica’s eyes never left Charlie, inspecting his face. “Hmm, I still don’t know about this one,” she said as she stuffed the booklet back in her bag. “He hasn’t got a wrinkle on his face. He should be forty, or around 80 actually, if we’re being technical about it. But look at him. Not a lick of wear and tear in sight.”

“It’s that good old Disney magic. He’s magical. He’s _of magic_ ,” Hannah said.

“Ah, yes,” Jessica conceded with a light pat on her own head, her mood shifting instantly. “How could I forget? That’s good enough for me, I guess.” Jessica turned her attention back to Charlie, and when he assessed all three of them again, he realized that they were all staring and waiting for him to do something. Charlie cleared his throat.

“Wow, it’s nice to meet you all,” he said in his usual, princely melody and grin, and he pointed to Jessica’s bag. “I see you have your own bag of oats for the horses! Samson would love that.”

Jessica pulled her bag around her waist and behind her. “Your horse isn’t eating anything from my bag, Phil.”

“And in case you forgot,” Hannah said, “there is one other mission that we still need your help with.”

“I think he gets it, guys,” Alex said for the first time since his initial hello, turning to them with a look of annoyance, and then back to Charlie with a small smile. “I’m sorry about them. They tend to talk for me when they get excited. You know, that thing they said I hated?” His voice shrunk again, and it struck a different kind of chord in Charlie’s chest, one that pulled his heart down into his stomach as it sizzled in its descent, and he couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his lips.

“It isn’t any cause for concern,” Charlie said through uncharacteristic giggles. “It’s quite lovely to meet you, Sir Alex.” He stuck out his hand, and Alex looked at it cautiously before lifting his to grasp it.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Alex replied. Charlie noted that his grip was much tighter than he expected from Alex’s smaller frame, and didn’t stop his own urge to squeeze back. The pads of Alex’s pinky finger shifted ever so slightly against two of Charlie’s knuckled, and it felt as if all the blood in his body rushed to that single spot that had just been vacated by the boy’s fingerprint, and the feeling was exacerbated when Alex abruptly let go.

It was much too soon for Charlie, and his hand went ice cold the second it was empty, his heart leaping up from his stomach into his throat, and the sudden shift manifested in an inopportune coughing fit. Alex took a step back closer to his friends, visibly unsettled by seeing a prince in such a human light, and it took a minute before Charlie got his breath back.

“Excuse me,” he said, his eyes finding Alex. “I don’t know where that came from.”

“Maybe he isn’t magic,” Hannah said, unimpressed.

“No,” Jessica denied, clearly amused by Charlie’s new demeanor as he remained transfixed to Alex, and as Alex’s small smile returned without hesitation. “No, I think that was magic. Hannah, can’t you see it?’ She elbowed the other girl behind Alex’s back, and Hannah looked between the two boys, seeing the invisible red string connecting them.

“Silly me,” Hannah said softly, her cheeks tugged upward at the sight. If Alex weren’t smiling, the girls would’ve thought he was absolutely shell-shocked. But looking at them now felt like they were intruding on an intimate and precious moment, even in the middle of this wide-open park.

They waited a few more seconds through the silence, and when neither boy made a next move, the girls each grabbed one of Alex’s elbows and started to drag him away. “Come now, lover boy,” Jessica said, overly amused. “We have way too many people to meet for you to just stand there.”

And Charlie just stood there, watching their retreating bodies. He hadn’t even noticed that after his little episode, and after taking much too long with Alex and his friends, the crowd had lost interest and dissipated until he was the only one left standing in that corner of the park.

Alex intrigued him, to say the least. He listened to the steady beat of his heart, and confirmed that yes, he hadn’t felt that way in quite a while. Charlie looked at Alex’s slim frame in the distance and wondered to himself what it was, exactly, that made him feel like he recognized him somehow, simultaneously berating himself at how he’d gone and done it again. He’d done it with Diego and Sheri, two souls that danced to the same beat, and it had drawn him in so fiercely that Charlie didn’t realize soon enough that he had two left feet. He’d done it with Scott, who revealed the kid inside him, and it was fun to play for a while before Charlie figured he needed to grow the fuck up. He’d done it with too many people in this damn park. He always decided, too quickly, that he would fall in love.

If he was being honest with himself, it was the true reason he came to this place: to find his magical, Disney fairy tale love. And here was another one, and he’d walked away, never to be seen again. For one last time, he found himself dissolved - washed up foam on the surface of the sea as his newest prince floated away on his ship.

Yes, there was magic here, but this story was never the one that Charlie signed up for.


	3. Chapter 3

The cloud that hung around above Charlie’s head never quite disappeared after that, only just mutated into different shapes, and shades of grey, and questions of what if’s, what could have been’s, and what happens now’s. The dressing room at the end of the day distinctly smelled of sweat and stale breath as everyone shimmied out of their costumes right after the parade.

Without a doubt, the parade was Charlie’s least favorite part of the gig. The size of the crowds that would gather for anything else throughout the day usually ramped up to 11 just for the show, and yet, Charlie was always able to make little to no connections waving at people’s phones and tablets from at least 20 feet away.

Charlie hastily pulled his blue sweater over his head and leaned back, sinking into his chair and nestled his head on the top of his backrest, finally fighting his way through the fog that he’d been in for the rest of the day. He brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes – a sort of reset button to clear his vision, but the haze just spread down to his cheeks and through to the pads of his fingers, numbing them to the bone.

His mind raced through a million different scenarios. Tomorrow. Last Day in HappyLand. Finally hanging up the disguise. Another story he’d read cover to cover, trying to read between the lines to find where the plot had gone sour. The next day, a trip back home. Maybe he would stay there for a week. But then, what would the story be for the next day? Or the days after that?

_New story: It’s Charlie’s first day as an EMT, and his first assignment is at the Crestmont Theater where Evergreen County is hosting a small film festival showcasing different movies from the Great British area. The town has been bustling in quiet excitement due to news that royalty would be visiting: a Baron of such and such and his family. But when the cinema catches fire, and the people rush out, he sees a lone figure in a dress being trampled under the feet of panicked moviegoers. He rushes to help her up, only to realize that it’s the daughter of the Baron- no. Too out of his league, this one._

_New story: Charlie has worked at Monet’s before, the most charming coffee shop this side of Evergreen, and knows the works behind the bar like the back of his hand. Everyday, he sees the same, familiar faces that he always sees. But one night, a few minutes to closing, the chimes over the door ding and in walks notorious billionaire- no. Absolutely not._

Lost in his thoughts, he felt a soft kiss to his forehead and he opened his eyes to see Diego looking down at him from behind him with tired eyes. “We have to stop meeting like this,” Charlie smiled, his words almost slurring together, much too lazy to put on a show.

“Hey nappy boy,” Diego said with a chuckle. “Plans tonight?”

“None,” Charlie grunted, straightening up and out of the chair, grabbing his bag, “Just going home.” Diego just nodded in reply, his face expressionless, but his eyes intent, and Charlie knew he could see right through him. Charlie averted his eyes for a second, choosing to change the subject. “Where’s Sheri?” he asked.

“She had to go ahead, something about her friend needing her help.” Diego said, dismissing the question entirely. He took a step closer, and a knot of skin formed in the middle of Charlie’s eyebrows. Diego carefully reached behind Charlie’s neck and wrapped his hand around the nape, the way he knew helped soothe Charlie when he was having a hard day.

“What’s wrong?” Diego asked, and Charlie was surprised at how quickly tears sprung to his eyes and clouded them, but he didn’t dare let them fall. He didn’t think he was sad. No, it must have been different than that. It certainly felt like grieving, but of what, he didn’t actually know.

“Can we talk? Do you have time?” The low timbre of Charlie’s voice cracked his veneer, and his guts were threatening to spill out if he couldn’t calm himself down in time.

Diego immediately reached up to wipe the tears away before they ever broke free, and smiled at Charlie. “Of course. Get your jacket and let’s take a walk?”

-

Diego linked his arm around Charlie’s, and the two gingerly walked side by side with their hands stuffed in their pockets. The cold air and the dimming surroundings did much to relax Charlie in his pent up state. It’s one of the reasons he stuck by Diego and Sheri – that they knew when and how to help him when nobody else saw that he needed it in the first place.

“So are you actually going to tell me what’s going on in that cute little head of yours,” Diego asked, “or am I going to have to guess?” Charlie considered the question at first, looking at the empty buildings around him. They seemed much taller in the greying light, the optical illusions much less noticeable during this time of day - yet another trick of the eye. That’s what this place was.

“Did Sheri actually have to go, or did you make her leave?” he asked Diego.

“I told her you wouldn’t open up as much if she was there,” Diego admitted. “She didn’t take it too well, so I guess it was a little bit of both.” The two laughed softly, albeit mirthlessly. “She understands though. We could both see it, you know?”

“Do you think it showed on the grounds today?”

“Charlie, you can hide behind a costume better than anyone I know,” Diego replied. “That smile of yours shines brighter than anything I’ve ever seen. You’ve got that prince thing down to a _science_. You become the big, brave man who exudes confidence at every turn, in every conversation. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“Okay.”

Diego rolled his eyes. Charlie - ever the ruthlessly selfless boy, even when he was falling apart at the seams. Diego knew not to push, though. Charlie always did what he had to do, and if left to his own devices, he knew that Charlie would find his way back, no fail.

“Does it get tiring being the attractive, confident one all the time?” Diego asked. “Because if you’re not aware, you don’t just leave that in the park, you take that shit with you even after the cape comes off.”

“I’m exhausted,” Charlie said immediately, and Diego breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’m really glad you just said that because Sheri and I were fucking worried about you, man.” Diego released his arm and brought it around Charlie’s shoulders, pulling the boy in even closer. “You know you’re my best friend, right? And you can tell me anything, even if you’re not sure about what you’re gonna say.” Charlie nodded, almost imperceptibly. The thing was that he didn’t even know where to start, and Diego caught him stalling straight away.

“Just say anything, Charlie.”

Charlie stopped to take a deep breath, and Diego released his hold, turning to face him.

“I don’t understand why I don’t belong here,” Charlie said, his shoulders slumping and his face distraught. “I feel so fucking dumb because I thought I finally found the place I was meant to be, and it just… it isn’t right for me. I don’t even know how I thought coming here was going to get me what I wanted. I don’t even know if it’s what I _still_ want, or what it is I even wanted at all. Why wasn’t the picture clearer from the beginning? I could’ve saved so much time if I just developed this whole dream in the first place. Now I’m left with a blurry cluster fuck in my head and I don’t know… I just don’t know. I don’t know what it even was that I pictured in my head. This is all I’ve ever wanted, and now… I don’t. So where do I go? If my story isn’t here, then where is it?”

Charlie walked hurriedly past Diego, so ashamed and wanting to hide his face, stopping only when Diego called for him to wait. He chose to sit on a nearby stoop, and Diego appeared in his view, taking a seat next to him flush to his side.

“Hey,” Diego said, trying to catch his attention. Charlie looked at him with broken eyes, and Diego ruffled the slightly damp hair on Charlie’s head. “Charlie, I think your problem is that you don’t understand that all of this is your story.” His ruffling turned into light strokes, and Charlie dodged the last one in favor of resting it on the support beam on the other side. “You can’t just end this story and move on to a new genre, or a new author, or a new book,” Diego continued. “There’s only one story, and it’s yours. This is just a new chapter, and you have to pick up where you left off.”

Charlie was silent, staring off in the distance, and Diego stroked his knee instead.

“Can I ask you about something we haven’t talked about in a long time?” Diego asked.

Charlie nodded, still avoiding his eyes.

“When was the last time you let yourself be vulnerable to your dad after your mom died?”

The question hung dangerously in the air between them, the topic of Charlie’s mother being so sore and raw, that if Diego didn’t tread correctly, it could’ve poisoned Charlie. He looked on as Charlie kept his face hidden until he saw his shoulders begin to droop even lower. After a painfully silent minute, Charlie turned back to him, revealing red eyes and finally fallen tears creating streaks of light down his face, and he shook his head before he whispered, “I don’t actually know.” Charlie leaned in, laying his head on Diego’s shoulder.

“You wanna know what I think?” Diego said. “I think that you ingrained in that adorable head of yours that the only way you could ever receive love is if you were actually a _prince_ and all that comes with being one. But you don’t have to pretend to be the person everyone thinks you are anymore. Not all the time at least.” He tucked Charlie’s head underneath his chin as he spoke. “Even if you’re a confident guy, you don’t have to be confident at every turn. Even if you’re strong, you don’t have to lift everyone up all the time. Life isn’t about the ones who fight dragons and wake up a romance with a kiss of fate. And love’s not about proving you’re strong enough to get the girl. Or guy. It’s about the ones who stick by each other through the weak moments.”

“Well… do you love me?” Charlie asked, suddenly, his head still tucked underneath Diego’s chin as his back was rubbed.

“Of course I love you. And so does Sheri.”

“So why didn’t it work? If you love me, and I love you, why didn’t you stick with me?” Charlie straightened up to face Diego again, this time his eyes wide with confusion and hurt.

“Charlie, we did stick with you. Just not in the way you thought we would.” Charlie simply stared back, living through emotions he thought he’d already worked past. But they were still here, wounds rubbed raw because they were never properly healed to begin with. “We loved you, alright?” Diego continued. “And we _still_ love you. We still talk about you all the time, actually. It’s just that we both knew that being with us… it was like you were sinking. We could see it – you sank lower and lower every day. That’s why even though you’re leaving, we know it’s gonna be so good for you, baby. You’re meant for something else, Charlie, something better than either of us could give you. And I’m sorry it wasn’t right with us, but you still have us, and you’re not gonna lose us. Like you said, three hours away. And now that you have us, you can go find what it is you can give even more of your love to. You can finally go be that confident guy you want to be.”

“I just feel like I failed here,” Charlie said.

“You made some friends, made some kids and families happy… doesn’t sound like a failure to me.” Diego smiled.

“Then why do I feel this way?”

“Because you’re not at the ending.”


	4. Chapter 4

It wasn’t that something came over him, it was that he found the energy he’d been reserving for months, and suddenly Charlie couldn’t keep the smile off his face throughout the whole day. He didn’t know when or how the adrenaline swooped in and kicked him with an abrupt surge, but his arms and legs had been electrified in steely determination, and Charlie stood in the same spot for three hours straight, meeting countless families, taking pictures and signing too many books to count.

The blood rushed straight to his brain, feeling the high that used to be ever-present on his first days at the park. It was so prominent and so overwhelming that he let it consume him, and he rode its wave until his cheeks flushed through his light makeup, feeling nauseous and lightheaded towards the end of it. It did end soon enough though, with the last family he signed for accidentally leaving him with their pen, which he hid in his sleeve.

When the crowds migrated away in preparation for the parade, he found a clearing by a bench near the castle, a small reward at the end of the rainbow for two white-knuckle years. He took a seat, discovering that he didn’t actually know how to maneuver his cape and all of his gear because he’d never once sat down, on the grounds, in costume before. _No rest for the joy-bringers_ was the inside joke between him and a few of the other cast members, although Charlie didn’t really understand it until today.

He had a few minutes before he needed to prepare for his last parade, and he took the chance in this quiet to look around in the daylight. The park was more vivid than yesterday, its colors bright and vivid, and he began to wring his fingers together, twisting and pinching at his skin at what he was witnessing. It had never occurred to him to look around while on the job, much too focused on doing the best job possible. The view of the trees, the tourists in the distance, the cobblestone, the architecture, all the little details that flew over his head while working these streets – they were breathtaking.

“Hi.”

Charlie’s heart stopped. The light vibration in the voice that greeted him was undeniable, and he turned to his left to see the boy from yesterday, a small paper sleeve in his hand, and that shy smile gracing his soft features.

“Hi!” Charlie said without missing a beat. “I mean, hello Sir Alex, it’s quite the delight to see you again.” He attempted to stand, quickly gathering himself into character again, and stretch his hand out, but Alex held up his palm.

“No need,” Alex said, and he lowered himself back to the seat. Charlie attempted to keep his thoughts under control as they ran to images of him, Alex, and a candle-lit dinner. “Also, you remember my name?” he asked in surprise.

Charlie laughed. “Well, it was quite the impression you three made yesterday. I’m actually surprised you’re still here, if I may be so frank,” Charlie said.

“Oh, we booked for two days,” Alex explained. “Jess really wanted to make sure she got all those autographs.” Alex noted Charlie looking behind him to see that, no, the girls were not with him this time. “They’re getting ready for the parade,” he clarified. “I don’t actually understand why they want to, we watched the parade yesterday and we had a pretty good view, but Hannah said it’s, and I quote, _way different when you’re watching from It’s A Small World_.”

Charlie nodded. “It truly is, though, so I’ve heard. There are quite a bit less people at the start of the line.”

“Speaking of which, don’t you have to go to that?”

“Well, yes,” Charlie replied, calculating what to say next so as not to scare the boy off. “But I have a few moments to myself. And I enjoy the quiet, sometimes.”

“Oh, sorry if I’m interrupting,” Alex said, beginning to retreat.

Charlie, despite himself, reached out to grab the boy’s wrist. “No, that’s not what I meant,” he rushed, letting go as quickly as he had grabbed, and collected himself before he spoke again. “I’m quite glad you’re here,” he said. The smile that he was given in return punctured him swiftly.

“Well in that case…” Alex opened up the paper bag in his hand and held it out for Charlie. “Would you like a bite of my cinnamon mouse?”

Charlie was not sure about the etiquette of receiving gifts from park visitors as he had barely ever received any. Yet as the smell of the mouse-shaped pastry hit his nose, he couldn’t help but grab it from Alex’s limber hand and he took a bite. Alex laughed at this, the sound of it a ripple of a tranquilizing song to Charlie’s ears. He collected himself before he continued the image in his head of how Alex might’ve reacted if Charlie snuck up behind him as he read his book, and wrapped him in a tight embrace. _He would probably be repulsed_ , he thought.

“If you really wanna relax, you can,” Alex said. “You don’t have to keep the up the Prince thing in front of me, no one’s watching.” Charlie looked up at him with wide eyes and a full mouth, mentally rifling through the prince handbook before he remembered that… _shit_. It was his last day.

“Thanks,” he replied and swallowed, handing the cinnamon roll back to Alex. “I haven’t had that in a while. Takes me back.”

Alex’s eyes grew as Charlie spoke. “Fuck, you sound so different when you speak normally.”

“Yeah, it’s part of the training,” he said. “There’s a bunch of shit we’re not allowed to do.”

“Oh, Jess would not stop talking about that while we were driving up here,” Alex said, taking a seat right beside Charlie. “Like how you’re not allowed to curse,” he teased, and Charlie smiled, “or point with just one finger, is that true?”

“Yup,” Charlie said, wiping off the extra glaze and crumbs that built up at the corners of his mouth. “Only two fingers or the whole hand.”

“That’s weird.”

“That’s what I said, but alas, you can’t really stick it to the man in a place like this,” he said, leaning back against his cape. “So you guys drove up here. You’re from California?”

Alex nodded. “It’s a super small town called Evergreen, just north of Santa Maria.”

Charlie’s mouth dropped open, his eyes wide and glistening, and Alex looked confused. “Did I say something weird?”

“Did you go to Liberty or something,” Charlie asked too enthusiastic for his own good. “I think I would’ve remembered you from Hillcrest if you went.” Alex, in turn, mirrored Charlie’s expression from a second a go until his lips curled up into the most beautiful grin.

“Liberty High, yeah,” Alex said breathlessly. “Holy shit what a small fucking world.”

“Well it’s a small world, after all,” Charlie said. Alex threw his head back in laughter, and Charlie swore he would do anything to play that song over and over again if he could.

Alex looked back at him, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes formed in glee. “That it is,” he said, the last of his laughter dying down. “Well that reminds me.” Alex stood up, and Charlie’s heart immediately started to race. “I think I’ve gotta go find my friends, they’re probably worrying about me. Can’t wait to see you in the parade again.”

Just like that, Alex was walking away again. A goodbye present, perhaps? One last good conversation before he left for good? No, not like this. This isn’t how this ends.

Charlie scrambled for an answer, patting down his costume for anything to offer, anything to give. Any sign. And as he held the end of his sleeve, a small plastic rod dug into his wrist, and he knew that there was one more rule he was meant to break. He ran the few steps Alex had taken and tapped his shoulder.

“Hey wait,” Charlie called, and Alex turned around swiftly. “Don’t you want me to sign something?”

Alex laughed again. “We already have your autograph, remember?”

Charlie looked at the half-full paper bag in Alex’s hand and grabbed it before the boy could say anything else. “Well this one’s special. Just for you and no one else,” he said. He just couldn’t help it. Just one more act of bravery, out of his comfort zone and out of his mind all at once. He pulled the pen out of his sleeve and scribbled as legibly as he could as his hands shook with nerves. He rolled the end of the paper bag and handed it back to Alex.

Alex took the bag, amused at the whole scenario, before he bowed in a perfect right angle right in front of Charlie. “Thank you, your highness.”

Charlie bowed right back. “Keep it safe,” he said, and Alex smiled.

“I will.”

-

As he was packing up the last of his personal things, he took one last look at his costume hung in front of him, his chest swirling with too many emotions, but the one that stuck out to him the most was _pride_. Pride that he had a dream at all, and that he did everything he thought he could do to go after it.

Diego and Sheri walked him to Harbor Point as a last hurrah, feeling too sentimental to talk about anything important. They took their time walking, but there was much too little time anyway.

“You guys are still coming over for Thanksgiving, right?” Charlie asked, hopefully. “My dad’s expecting you, and you know I’m going to make a mean spread.”

“It’s in the calendar in _red_ , babe,” Sheri said. “Management knows about it, and my stomach’s grumbling.”

“I can’t wait,” Diego added.

It was too quiet, and it kept Charlie from reaching for them, letting them know how much he still needed them. He didn’t want to make it awkward, but there were too many things he had left to say, and he just couldn’t bring himself to. There were too many apologies, and too many thank you’s to give, and he didn’t know where to even begin. But before he could think about it too much, Sheri collided into his side, wrapping around his torso.

“I’m gonna miss you, Chuckie babe,” Sheri said, her curly hair resting on his chest, and Charlie sighed in relief into the embrace as Diego joined in on his other side. The hold they had on him was cripplingly tight, and Charlie was never so happy to not be able to breathe.

“Gonna miss you so fucking much. It’s not gonna be the same without our little big puppy around,” Diego said.

“You better not lose touch with us, I’m gonna kick your fucking ass,” Sheri said, and Charlie laughed at the juxtaposition with the sad tone in her voice.

“You’re gonna wish I stopped talking to you,” Charlie said, and the two broke the embrace to pepper his face with quick, light kisses, and tickle him in all the places they knew that would have Charlie inconsolable by the end of it, leaving the group in hysteric giggles. “I love you guys so much. Always.”

“We love you too,” Diego said, and Sheri nodded.

“Never forget that.”

-

[9:16 PM]

Charlie?

_[9:17 PM]_

_… Alex?_

[9:17 PM]

Holy shit. It’s really you isn’t it?

_[9:18 PM]_

_Fuck. I didn’t think you’d actually text_

[9:19 PM]

You sneaky fuck, writing your number on a cinnamon roll wrapper, who even does that??? Are you allowed to do that?

_[9:19 PM]_

_……….. no._

[9:20 PM]

You’re not gonna get fired right?

_[9:20 PM]_

_Last day. Thought I’d take the plunge_

[9:20 PM]

Holy shit.

_[9:20 PM]_

_Yeah._

[9:22 PM]

Just so you know, I’m in a small car on the way back home, and there are two girls screaming my ear off right now, freaking the fuck out that I’m talking to Prince Phillip.

_[9:23 PM]_

_Haha, well you’ll find that the real guy is much less remarkable_

[9:24 PM]

You sell yourself short. You’re a mystery right now.

That’s the best kind of story

_[9:31 PM]_

_So uh… Alex?_

[9:32 PM]

I thought you just ghosted me after I came on too strong tbh

_[9:32 PM]_

_Never gonna happen_

[9:33 PM]

Good.

_[9:34 PM]_

_I’m just gonna go ahead and say it. I’m coming back to Evergreen in a few days… are you gonna be there?_

[9:36 PM]

…

Please tell me you’re asking me out.

_[9:37 PM]_

_Would that be something you’d like?_

[9:37 PM]

Hmmmmm… depends what you have in mind.

_[9:39 PM]_

_Dinner and wine. I can cook! And then a dumb movie at the Crestmont that we can roast the fuck out of over popcorn._

_[9:42 PM]_

_Alex?_

_[9:43 PM]_

_Please say something my heart’s beating out of my fucking chest over here and my brow’s getting sweaty and it’s making my face all blotchy_

[9:44 PM]

I’m sure you look good as hell like you always do.

Fuck… you really are a prince aren’t you?

_[9:45 PM]_

_I try. Really hard_

[9:46 PM]

Well… it sounds right up my alley, Charlie.

_[9:47 PM]_

_Wiping the sweat off my brow now_

[9:49 PM]

Hahaha stop it.

[9:51 PM]

You should see the looks on these girls’ faces, they can’t handle all the cute. Not even one date, and they’re giving us a name. How’s Chalex sound?

_[9:51 PM]_

_I don’t wanna jinx it… but I like it_

[9:51 PM]

I like it too.

I’ll be counting the minutes, Charlie.

_[9:52 PM]_

_So will I, Alex. So will I. You have no idea_

_Hope you’re ready for me to pick you up in my cute prius for our cute date_

[9:52 PM]

My prince.

**Author's Note:**

> Please review!! Reviews are autographs and cinnamon rolls <3


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